When a dispute arises between the South Korea and Japan, such as the "comfort women" controversy, the South Koreans who most fiercely criticize Japan are "liberals" while the Japanese who criticize South Korea are "conservative rightists."

An 89-year-old Korean in Pennsylvania calls the latest spats between Japan and South Korea "infantile and lamentable." She remembers her Japanese teachers as loving people who "poured their heart and soul into making good human beings out of us."

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Park Geun-hye need to follow up their first formal meeting this week — held on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit — with a face-to-face meeting that doesn't require the intermediation of U.S. President Barack ...